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Drugstore robber changing targets?

He started stealing cash and bottled water from drugstores. Now he may have decided to branch out to banks.

By STEVE THOMPSON
Published June 29, 2005

NEW PORT RICHEY - A drugstore robber with a taste for bottled water might have been responsible for a different type of robbery Tuesday.

"It looks like he may have graduated to banks," said Pasco sheriff's spokesman Kevin Doll.

About 12:47 p.m. Tuesday, a man robbed the Wachovia Bank at 5136 Little Road.

Sheriff's officials think it probably was the same man who has pulled off at least four drugstore robberies since June 6.

At each store, he went in dressed in a sports jersey, picked out a bottle of water and headed to the register. As the cashier rang up his water, he pulled a black semiautomatic handgun from his waistband, reached into the register for cash, and took off in a green Ford SUV with the money and the water.

In Tuesday's bank robbery, the method was similar, minus the water.

"Today he walked in and picked up some brochures," sheriff's Detective Pete Weekes said. "He stood there for a minute, then he approached the teller and handed her some five-dollar bills and said, "I want to exchange these for ones."'

He showed a dark handgun. When the teller opened the drawer, he leaned over the counter and grabbed cash and, unknowingly, a dye pack. Then he rushed out the door and into a green Ford SUV.

"We have witnesses who saw the smoke coming out of it going down the road," Weekes said.

The Wachovia branch doesn't appear to be the only place the man thought of robbing Tuesday.

"We got him walking in at least one other bank today, but he chickened out and didn't rob it," Weekes said. That tip came from a bank security officer.

Tuesday's bandit was wearing a red sports jersey: No. 19. (Keyshawn Johnson wore that number for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and now for the Dallas Cowboys.)

While robbing two drug stores earlier this month, a CVS pharmacy in Holiday and a Walgreens in Palm Harbor, the bandit wore a black and red football jersey: No. 28. (Warrick Dunn wore that number for the Bucs, and now for the Atlanta Falcons.)

Sunday, at a Walgreens in New Port Richey, the robber wore a white tank top. About an hour later, at another Walgreens, he wore a blue pin-striped baseball jersey: No. 25. (Jason Giambi wears that number for the New York Yankees.)

The robber is white, has short brown hair, is less than 6 feet tall, of medium build and about 30 years old. Anyone with information is asked to call Weekes toll-free at 1-800-854-2862, ext. 7279.

Steve Thompson covers crime in Pasco County. He can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6245, or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6245. His e-mail address is sthompson@sptimes.com

[Last modified June 29, 2005, 01:19:17]